Cold shooting dooms Eagles

Feb. 28, 2007

Written by

PHIL GRAY

Gazette Sports Writer

WELLSTON - Eastern's elimination from the postseason really came down to one thing.

The Eagles couldn't find a way to score.

That sounds worse than it is. In fact, Eastern played well against Miller, holding the Falcons to just 17 points in the first half. The Eagles worked the boards, played solid defense and often ran their offense well enough to get good looks, inside and out, at the basket.

But in the second half, it was like somebody had plugged it up. In the end, Miller erased its six-point halftime deficit with a 39-28 run in the final 16 minutes, knocking out the Eagles 56-51.

"It's disappointing," Eagles coach Jeff Caldwell said. "We're better than we played today. Give Miller credit - they played well defensively, enough to get us out of our rhythm. But we just couldn't put it in the hole."

Like all games, this one was a matter of streaks. After a slow first quarter for both teams ended in a 7-7 tie, Eastern got hot in the second, using four straight Miller turnovers to build a 23-15 lead with about two minutes left in the half.

But, unfortunately for Eastern, Dustin Householder saved his own streak for the stretch run.

After Miller's Tyler McLean hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it at 23 with 4:28 left in the third, Householder got going. After scoring only 11 points in the first half, the junior guard changed the game in its final 10 minutes.

"He's a great player, and we knew that coming in," Caldwell said. "He ranks right up there with some of the best players we've seen all year, and we let him get going in the second half."

Householder jump-started himself with an eight-foot jumper to tie it again at 25, then buried a 3, then another 3, then a short jumper from the left side, to give his team a 33-28 lead with 35 seconds to go in the third.

Eastern rallied to take a one-point lead with six minutes left in the game when John Slone fed a steal to A.J. Osborne for a layup, but Miller came right back with a 3-pointer by Tyler Householder and two free throws by Dustin Householder. And, in the end when Eastern was forced to foul, the Falcons converted. Dustin Householder hit four of the six free throws he attempted in the final minutes, and Jacob Eing was good on five of his six free throws in the fourth quarter.

"It's been like that for us this year," Caldwell said. "We've won games where we haven't been real consistent, and we did it with defense and desire. These kids weren't the 3-seed in this tournament for nothing, but we've struggled toward the end of the year. Miller showed a lot of heart, and we had a few letdowns on defense."

The loss in the final round of the sectionals ends Eastern's season at 12-9, and marks the end of the Eagles' five seniors' high school careers.

"The main thing is, it's a great group of kids," Caldwell said of Ian Bapst (who finished with five points), A.J. Osborne (12), Slone (17), Aaron Polen (10) and Wes Jordan (five). "They've been so positive, and that's been the key in our turnaround. If one of them would have had a bad attitude in practice, it might have changed everything."

But the two-year turnaround trail of the outgoing senior class might have a lasting effect for the Eagles.

"I think it will," Caldwell said. "We've shown you don't have to be tremendously talented to be successful if you put in the hard work. If you work hard, you can accomplish great things."

Like back-to-back Southern Ohio Conference Division-I championships, the first time since 1988-89 Eastern captured two-straight league titles.

Miller advances to the Convo to play Whiteoak in the Division IV District Semifinals next Monday at 8 p.m.